Land's Edge MTG Card

Turns excess lands into damage, optimizing resource management and pressuring opponents. Instant speed discarding allows tactical plays and accelerates the path to victory. Requires careful hand management due to potential depletion from discarding.

Legends (LEG)
1994-06-01 - Number 158

Chronicles (CHR)
1995-07-01 - Number 52

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	World Enchantment

Text of card

Any player may discard a card from hand at any time. If that player discards a land, Land's Edge does 2 damage to target player of the discarding player's choice.

Cards like Land's Edge

Land’s Edge is a unique card whose impact on gameplay in Magic: The Gathering isn’t easily replicated. When assessing cards with resemblant functions, one might consider Seismic Assault. Both cards allow players to discard lands to deal damage to any target. However, Seismic Assault requires no mana to activate, compared to Land’s Edge, which requires two mana.

Exploring alternatives further, we encounter Molten Vortex, sharing the land-discard for damage theme, but at a cheaper cost for activation, requiring only one red mana. Although the initial casting cost for Molten Vortex is less, it lacks the flexibility of Land’s Edge, which can be used immediately without paying its mana cost if it’s discarded.

Each of these cards has its place in decks looking to capitalize on having excess lands in hand. While Seismic Assault offers cost-free activations, it has a more demanding color requirement. In contrast, Land’s Edge’s key advantage lies in being part of the battlefield upon discarding, offering an unexpected line of play. As players consider which card to include in their strategies, Land’s Edge remains a potent and situational choice within the land-discard archetype.

Cards similar to Land's Edge by color, type and mana cost

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Decks using this card

MTG decks using Land's Edge. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#	Name	Format	Archetype	Event
	Grixis Control	Legacy		Charlotte Legacy League Season 1 Week 1

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Land’s Edge provides a continuous outlet to turn excess lands in hand into direct damage, allowing you to optimize your gameplay with effective resource management. By converting what could be dead draws into actionable strategy, it ensures your hand never loses its threat factor, making it a valuable asset for maintaining pressure on the opponent.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana acceleration, this enchantment leverages the lands in your deck beyond their usual scope. This can indirectly lead to resource acceleration by enabling more consistent land drops each turn, as you can use the ability to deal damage rather than holding on to surplus lands.

Instant Speed: The ability to discard lands at instant speed allows for tactical flexibility, enabling you to respond to your opponent’s actions or end-of-turn scenarios. This instantaneous interaction contributes to the surprise factor and allows for strategic depth in your play. The potential to inflict damage during each player’s turn catalyzes a faster route to victory.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When activating Land’s Edge’s ability, the need to discard a card can be detrimental, especially if your hand is already sparse. This effect requires careful hand management, ensuring you have expendable cards when needed, which isn’t always the case.

Specific Mana Cost: To cast Land’s Edge, players need to invest in red mana, potentially restricting its inclusion in decks that aren’t built around red or those running a tight mana base where color variability is key.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For its ability to deal damage, some players might find the overall mana investment in Land’s Edge steep. In scenarios where quick plays are paramount, having to allocate three specific mana (including two red) can impede the overall tempo of your game plan when other options might yield immediate results for the same or lesser cost.

Reasons to Include Land’s Edge in Your Collection

Versatility: Land’s Edge offers a unique ability to turn excess land cards into damage against opponents. This makes it a valuable addition to decks that often find themselves with an abundance of lands in hand, providing a way to turn potential dead cards into a weapon.

Combo Potential: This card can be a linchpin in combinations with strategies focused on land retrieval and recursion, allowing players to reuse lands for both mana and Land’s Edge’s ability. It integrates particularly well with decks that draw a lot of cards, increasing the chance to hit land drops and fuel its effect.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames where long, drawn-out battles are common, Land’s Edge can provide the consistent, incremental advantage needed to tip the scales in your favor. It’s also an excellent tool for punishing opponents who leave themselves unprotected or operate with low life totals.

How to beat Land’s Edge

Land’s Edge is a unique enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that offers players the capability to turn spare lands into direct damage. Understanding how to navigate this card’s potential can significantly tilt the game in your favor. The key in outmaneuvering a strategy that involves Land’s Edge lies in managing card advantage and preserving life totals. Tactics like land destruction to limit the ammunition for your opponent, disruption spells to prevent the enchantment from taking effect, and life gain to buffer against the damage will greatly enhance your ability to stay ahead.

Using graveyard hate cards can also be a viable strategy, as it hinders your opponent’s capacity to recycle lands with effects such as Crucible of Worlds or Ramunap Excavator. Moreover, enchantment removal is an obvious but effective method to deal with Land’s Edge. Having spells ready in your deck to handle troublesome enchantments ensures you aren’t caught off guard. Another angle is to accelerate your own game plan. By applying pressure and forcing an opponent to use lands defensively or for mana rather than offense, you can negate the impact of Land’s Edge.

Ultimately, a well-rounded approach that anticipates Land’s Edge’s strengths and mitigates its effects will position you for victory. Emphasize card draw to maintain options, incorporate versatile answers, and capitalize on the moments when your opponent is potentially land-poor to claim the upper hand in your Magic: The Gathering matches.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Land's Edge MTG card by a specific set like Legends and Chronicles, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Land's Edge and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Land's Edge Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1994-06-01 and 1995-07-01. Illustrated by Brian Snõddy.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1994-06-01	Legends	LEG		158	1993	Normal	Black	Brian Snõddy
2	1995-07-01	Chronicles	CHR		52	1993	Normal	White	Brian Snõddy

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Land's Edge has restrictions

Format	Legality
Oldschool	Legal
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Land's Edge card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2004-10-04	The damage done when you discard a land only applies to lands which are discarded by choice using the Land’s Edge ability. It does not work on forced discards of any type.
2008-10-01	This has the supertype world. When a world permanent enters the battlefield, any world permanents that were already on the battlefield are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is a state-based action called the “world rule.” The new world permanent stays on the battlefield. If two world permanents enter the battlefield at the same time, they’re both put into their owners’ graveyards.